Sunday, August 5, 2012

In Seattle, ever since 2004, the season Ichiro broke George Sisler’s 84-year-old MLB record for base hits in a season with 262, a fan in the front row of the right-field stands at Safeco Field brought the Ichimeter, which she increased by one every time Number 51 got another hit.

It is owned by Amy Franz, a Mariners fanatic who has had season tickets since the Kingdome. She even brought it to the Mariners’ opening games in Japan this season. Her original Ichimeter is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, replaced at Safeco with newer ones that fans saw until Ichiro’s last game in Seattle on July 25, 2012.

Franz said she will continue to update her Ichimeter and send out tweets, although they won’t be as frequent because it will be harder for her to track Ichiro in New York. To show his gratitude for her support, before he left Seattle Ichiro autographed Franz’s Ichimeter during batting practice and gave her a high-five. Franz was grateful, but did show Ichiro exactly what she thought of his new team:

Her last Ichimeter has now been replaced with the Ichimeter you see below.